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Thursday, January 31, 2013

Bent into shape

More good news from the Laser-lab. A few days back I asked if anyone could spot, what was missing on the Laser. The good news is: This one thing I was referring to, whatever it was, is no longer a missing feature.

Weeeeee

Dutch was not exactly enthused by the thought of redoing the part in question. He made it sound like a very big deal, but somehow his magic worked overly well. Soon after - few hours after actually - there was a new an improved version in my mailbox. I rushed inworld to sail it.

Can you see it?

When I logged in, I got a message about a VO70 race in the North Sea, so I decided to sail from the Mango Marina. Haven't been there for ages. There was a good breeze - like 15 knots or so, so it was great fun with plenty of planing. And the missing feature?

Can you see it now?

Here it is in full detail, and if you cannot spot it now, you either need glasses or you've never seen a real Laser. First one to mention it in the comments I'll send a postcard. No, not you Dutch :-D

Coconut Island?

Besides the Laser itself, the sailing in the North Sea is always a pleasure. While the real North Sea is cold and windy, - the virtual North Sea is warm, friendly and full of little coconut islands like the one in the back. Yummy. Sailing "knife in teeth" is fun, but sailing "sand in toes" is nice too.

Indians in the North Sea

Here's another few islands. The one to the left has a tipi on it. Never hear of the North Sea indians, but there you go. The vikings sailed to New Foundland, so why shouldn't the indians sail the other way? Ahh, there's another feature that is now working. The centerboard now works as expected.

Centerboard working

It actually comes up and down when you "tell it to". Pretty neat, hehe; Most importantly it makes it easier to round a mark and get planing right away. It'll start planing on a reach, so if you execute the rounding carefully, you can be planing even before you are on course to the next mark.

Hiking strap working too

There's just one more thing I'd like to mention. If you check the first pic, you can see the hiking strap holding my feet. It's bent upwards. On this shot here, I am not using the strap, and you can (just) see it hanging loose. How's that for attention to detail?

While the attention to detail is immense, the real keyword for this boat is "refreshing". I had a truly refreshing sail with this baby in the North Sea. Refreshing as in - it felt like sailing. This boat looks so real, you automatically expect it to be like a real boat. It's almost there. I still miss a few details such as the vane on the Shelly Fizz, and there's other stuff I'd like to add. Nevertheless, I can't wait to sail it again...

The mainsheet traveler is missing. True, but we already (un)covered that. Tillerman is right. It's the mast bend. I know it looks permanently bent, but hey... better than than no bend at all. You'd never see a sailing Laser with no bend. I talked to Dutch about the boom. I don't think it will be bent, but you never know. There are other details though. Problem is: Once you start looking for perfection, there really is no ending. Incidentally that's how you win races; Teehee. Anyway, Tillerman... drop me a mail with ur snailmail address and I'll send you a postcard.